i listened to one hearing. i sat in one of the assessment board hearings, on the same street, a condo on the same street being reassessed. one was fronting positive, another fronting something that was taking away from the value. they need education. when you go through the first process there is a checklist as to what you should be bringing in if you're going to the hearing. >> thank you so much. thank you ms. nelson. next we have shawn ridgell.

okay. next we have daniel hershkowitz. >> how do you do? >> how do you do. >> please ask me the same question at the end. i am a real estate attorney and arrested broker in san francisco. i have been here for half of my life, true in a couple of months. i have been a real estate attorney for the last 15 years here san francisco and for a few years in oakland. for the last 12 years i have worked primarily as a real estate broker. i have quite a bit of experience with the appraisal process. i am a homeowner here in san francisco. that is in true; i have been a renter for the last two months; for the previous 15 years, an owner of single-family homes

and a few condos and also the landlord. i understand all of those perspectives. i also was the president and secretary depending on the year of homeowners associations; i have been and adjunct professor; work with the san francisco ethics boards of the san francisco association of realtors. i have sat on the san francisco association of realtors arbitration board. i have chaired the forms committee for the san francisco association of realtors, the education committee and on the california association of realtors form and education committees. i work with vanguard properties, risk assessment. i reviewed the files. i have a special hand as

assistant legal counsel, i have a special interest in the city of san francisco how we live, and living efficiently. i met my wife at the ymca. i sat on the board of the san francisco child abuse prevention center for six years, and helped last year to find a home for the child advocacy center in bayview. we are excited about that. we have a real feel for san francisco. i have a new perspective as again a renter. the question posed to all of us, in needs an amendment.

have gone through this process with the home i no longer own. it's been more than three years when i wrote a check for $70 for an appeal. the check was cashed the next day. yesterday i received a refund, not the whole $70. from my understanding most of the issue is a discussion or lack thereof between the assessor's office and the tax collector's office. i remember years ago trying to pay my property taxes and being told i am so sorry you can't do that yet. i found it odd that they do not want my money. the process then was that they had not figured out the escape assessment; they were still working on numbers from years earlier.

they knew those based on my purchase price but they were not ready to collect the money for four more years. i knew they would be collecting at some point so i set it aside. i can appreciate that so many people don't. if i were asked, i would be happy to lend a hand and solve these problems. >> it is not the role of the assessment board to facilitate a process between our citizens and our homeowners or property owners but for me it is something that as citizens of san francisco, help push to make it easier for people to understand and easier to get a rebate. >> when i had my appeal i talk with five or six people who did not understand the comp period,

were certain dates. they had come to the wrong dates. i helped each of them during my appeal to make an appointment for a new date. i spoke with a very nice woman who later asked me for a referral as a realtor to provide her right comps. people don't understand that. people don't understand that when they appeal one year, they need to appeal the next year if they don't they may not be allowed the next assessment. in my own experience, i have had this response, my messages are full.

i will try to review messages again next thursday. you can imagine that frustration. i had inside friends. the messages i sent were hi rob, such and such asked me to call you. i still did not get a callback. i can imagine what it would be like for the others. >> we have two applicants on the board of ymca -- >> great to have you both here. >>i do have an entrepreneurial feel for the city as well and for 10 years i had my brokerage called scholarship homes and real estate, with the goal to put money back for scholarships in the city. and we did quite a bit of good work for 10 years.

>> our last applicant is ms. diana daniel. >> hello. good afternoon. my name is diana daniel, i am a broker owner of my own real estate company, real works residential. i have been in the real estate field for 25 years, with 20 of those in california. i first got my license here in 1996, and obtain my broker license in 2006. the main focus has been representing banks in foreclosure and reo properties in the large focus is doing valuation of properties, many times complicated process. the properties are not clear-cut. i have done hundreds of bpos, broker price opinions, reviewing the data.

easy properties, cookie-cutter subdivisions and many times difficult complicated properties. i have a lot of experience in that. the main reason is i want to be part of the community; to contribute to the community and be more involved in a few with my experience that i could be a good asset to the appeals board. >> and if you could also address the question i had earlier about the length of time and suggestions about how to make it easier for homeowners who are not large property owners and may not be savvy about the process. >> a friend of mine went to the process within the last year. her main complaint was how long it took for a decision and now she ended up winning the getting the adjustment, reimbursement.

education, educating the public. what you need to do to come in with the data to be considered for review your taxes and also educating them in the process, and how long the process may take. so people know what to expect upfront before they come in >> seeing no other questionsm' thank you for your time. the property owners have the opportunity to request translation? >> we have not had people ask for us to provide that translators. if when they come into the office it is apparent that they may have difficulty during the hearing office because of language barriers we suggest

that the try to bring either family members are somebody in with them for their hearing that can help them translate at the hearing. we have been fortunate that we have a staff person who does speak two dialects, chinese mandarin. when we are aware of that we recommended they tried to bring in someone to help them through the process. unfortunately we cannot offer the staff person to translate for them. >> i don't think it should be a staff person. but working with adrian pots [sounds like] office of sitting engagement is incredibly important. the board last year passed additional funding for cultural and language competency throughout city departments. i know it is something that chair chiu has brought up with other departments. not automatically for everyone

offering translation especially when it involves complicated language around property sales in all of that; some family members may not have the expertise to translate that type of language. i look forward to the new assessor coming in. i will discuss that with that individual that should be. that should be a check mark in the box and you should request. >> we would be more than happy to refer people to translating services if they were to ask us for that assistance. sometimes we don't see them in person. they send in their application. we don't know until they come into the hearing. >> it's a suggestion that it should be a box on the application; it should be translated so people can ask for that. at some point i would love to talk to the assessor's office about that.

-- it could be helpful; we did augment there budget to provide the services. >> does have to go through the approval process at the state level so this is the perfect time for us to be of the view that. >> thank you ms. duran. at this time we will open for public comment on this item. >> thank you. as an immediate past board member for board 2, i would like to speak in support of kristine nelson who is quite capable and served long hours in the field of appraisal. >> thank you so much. any other comments?

>> i would like to speak in behalf of ms. lewis and ms. mendoza's candidacy. i've had the pleasure of serving with ms. mendoza, board 1 and 2 hearings; she has been very professional and knowledgeable. i will urge the board to consider her again. >> thank you. >> (singing) won't you appoint a good applicant for us and you. won't you appoint one - one for board, for board number 2.

when will we have -- and you know we hardly can wait. and we need it today when you decide it's going to be okay. and whenwe when we met, some asssment shine. >> public comment is closed. one final question. when are the meetings?

some take place in the a.m.? or all in the evening? >> they usually run 9:30-12, 1:30-4 or whenever the agenda has concluded. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> okay. we do have 7 applicants. for four seats. unfortunately, two could not attend, ms. crisp who did inform our office and master ridgell. and other candidates who were here and able to speak. i note that several, ms. lewis, mr. hershkowitz,

are only applying for the alternate seats. is that correct? >>(off mic) >> you are willing to apply for all seats. >> (off mic) the good news is i'm flexible realtor. >> (off mic) >> thank you very much. with ms. lewis, only the alternate seats. we'll not want to put you in a position where you cannot fulfill your responsibilities. >> supervisor farrell: thank you for coming out and for speaking and signing up for the seats. i did have a chance to speak with ms. crisp before but it is

a strong preference for people who come to the committee. i was impressed by everyone. everyone is very qualified. we had a discussion about the existing people who sit on the board right now. in terms of the new people -- particularly ms. daniel, mr. hershkowitz, i like what they have to say and i would like to see the move forward. >> supervisor kim: supervisor yee? >> i want to thank everyone for coming out also. and chairperson kim, i really appreciate the whole issue of wanting to discuss

the translation services available to our residents. i know how difficult it is. you are right. one may be able to speak in chinese or spanish or whatever; it does not mean they can translate formal types of words. i did not get to meet any of these people. but when i read the resume of ms. robia crisp, i was impressed by the resume. i know she did not apply for the alternate position.

if she did not apply, does it mean we cannot nominate her for the alternate position? >> city attorney? >> should ask the question again? >> deputy city attorney. the committee can essentially mix and match. if the applicant has applied for one of the positions on the agenda item, you can appoint her to a different position. >> thank you. so i would like to have a discussion around appointing mendoza --

to seat number 1 possibly. ms. lewis to seat 6. mr. hershkowitz to 5. ms. crisp to seat number 7. i am open for discussion around this. >> supervisor kim: -- a supervisor farrell and i have learned over the last two years we have more qualified applicants then seats. their motion is louisa mendoza for seat 1. daniel hershkowitz for seat 5. >> joyce lewis for seat 6.

and robia crisp for seat 7. >> okay. six applicants. for me personally, it's hard when you have so many qualified applicants. i was impressed with mr. hershkowitz as well; i would like to point you for a seat not just because of your background but because of your enthusiasm. and making it easier for many of our homeowners. i would like to see you go forward and one of those seats as well. i was equally impressed by all the other candidates; it is nice to have female candidates.

it's great to see so many women opposite the last committee. especially in real estate property here in san francisco. i was impressed by diana, daniel, joyce lewis, luisa mendoza. unfortunately i do not get to speak with -- a land-use attorney. typically we ask that candidates come before us but ms. crisp made a particular outreach to our office knowing that she could not be here today and i appreciate that. with the permanent alternate seats, i would like to ask the candidates

if you have a preference between permanent and temporary so that we don't put you on places where you might have a slight not preference for. with joyce it was clearly an alternate seat. with mendoza, you only apply for the full seat. >> my preferences permanent. >> but you are open to -- right. with ms. crisp, not here to answer the question. mr. hershkowitz. >> my preference is permanent. >> ms. daniel? >> (off mic) >> do you have a slight preference? >> not really -ofm (off mic)

>> >> supervisor kim: my colleagues are comfortable mr. hershkowitz. >> i withdraw my nomination for robia crisp. everybody is so good that it is hard. diana daniel, you both named her. >> we can always revisit every name. ms. mendoza, mr. hershkowitz

and ms. daniel, however you feel divying up betwen alternate and permanent. >> ms. mendoza seat 1. ms. lewis for seat 6, ms. daniel for seat 7. >> i will make that motion. >> i will second. >> motion and the second. all the applicants are incredibly impressive and it is really great to see so many people interested in the committee

esoteric to members of the of the public. two new individuals with fresh blood cook and who can and enfuse energy and enthusiasm. we look forward to working with you. we have the motion and second. we encourage everyone else who did not make it today to reapply. supervisor yee will be chairing rules committee and maybe seeing you over the next two years. we have seen applicants that we were not able to support the first time around come back and be able to support them again. hopefully you will do that again. we hope that ms. crisp who was

very enthusiastic will be able to apply again. thank you for being here and appreciate your patience as we make difficult decisions. item number five. >> appointment to the reentry council. one seat, 10 applicants. >> thank you. >> so at this time -- it would can ask members of the public to exit the committee room. we have other items on the agenda. thank you. we did get a request from the reentry council to continue this;

the council will like to do more outreach to request applicants. we have a motion and a second. we'll continue this item at the call of the chair. can we rescind the vote to contineu? we have rescinded. thank you madam clerk for the reminder. >> (singing)